University of Hawaii West Oahu Seal

Bulletin No. 38

Date/Time sent: 02/16/2021 8:30 am

*Statement of Gratitude: “Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.” John Wooden

Update COVID-19

As the COVID-19 vaccines become more available to our communities, we are hopeful for our students, faculty, and staff to return to campus safely. Currently, the UH System is working with the Department of Health to provide vaccinations to our employees and students. As we have communicated (campus and system), we are following a sub-prioritization list that follows:

  • 1B-1s are custodial, security, environmental health services, facilities, 24/7 IT operations, student residence hall staff, and child care staff on campus now;

  • 1B-2s are those employees and students whose job duties have required that they be on campus 3 or more days per week, and faculty who are teaching in-person classes;

  • 1B-3s are students residing on campus, student athletes, and volunteer athletic coaches; and

  • 1B-4s are faculty and staff who are teleworking but essential to university operations and resumption of in-person education after this semester.

For more information please see President Lassner’s February 9 message.

As the opportunity arises, UH employees will be contacted and invited to set an appointment. Vice Chancellor Jeff Moniz wrote in a recent email to his unit:

For those of you still awaiting word on a vaccination appointment, please hang in there.  Some of you may be growing anxious and concerned as you hear of colleagues being contacted before you.  You’ll recall that the UH System provided a questionnaire that allowed respondents to report their risk factors.  This information was intended to help UH officials to further prioritize those with the highest risk.  None of us are privy to the risk factors that respondents indicated on their survey.  Be assured that the vaccination of all of us employed in post-secondary education continues to be included in the first major phase.  Please know that the University is taking every available opportunity to make vaccination against COVID-19 accessible to you, as quickly as possible.

In President Lassner’s February 9 announcement he stated:

The more people who get vaccinated, the sooner we can return to normalcy on our campuses and in our communities. For those with concerns about the vaccines, the decision is yours and that decision will be respected. Here are some excellent resources from our state health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Again, we remain committed to the health and safety of our campus community. Hence, will continue to provide information regularly via our weekly bulletins, the Chancellor’s monthly Ka Peʻahi Lono newsletter, and periodic campus-wide announcements. We are optimistic and hopeful for the fall semester with a healthy mix of in-person, hybrid and online instruction.

For your information:

University of Hawaiʻi employees may now submit a request in the online leave system to take administrative leave for the COVID-19 vaccination. Please select “Admin Leave – Vaccine” when completing the leave request. For more information on taking administrative leave for vaccinations, please visit the OHR website: http://go.hawaii.edu/SFJ
Please contact our HR office if you have questions.

Recent guidance from the CDC on large and small group gatherings:

Update on our Campus Work Groups

Recently, reporters from the Civil Beat Editorial Board interviewed President Lassner on a handful of topics to include how we are handling the pandemic and our budget concerns. If you are interested please read this interview.

Currently all four work groups have met or are meeting. We will provide updates from each of the co facilitators in the Monday, February 22, Weekly Bulletin.